Wex international travel study highlights latest travel trends and Brexit impact

Wex international travel study highlights latest travel trends and Brexit impact

The State of International Travel reveals the desire for international travel does not appear to have been dampened by Brexit or security concerns Continue reading

Corporate payment solutions provider Wex has published a whitepaper looking at the latest 2017 travel trends including the impact of Brexit.

The State of International Travel reveals the desire for international travel does not appear to have been dampened by Brexit or security concerns.

The UK’s Office For National Statistics reported UK travellers took a record 70.8 million trips abroad in 2016, up 8% on 2015.

The performance to date in 2017 is also encouraging with overseas visits up 2% on 2016, during the first four months of the year.

The whitepaper also reveals that while Spain continues to reign as the most popular destination for sun-seeking British holidaymakers, early indications suggest that other short-haul destinations such as Greece and Portugal will receive more holidaymakers this year compared to last.

Away from the countries which feature both in the top 10 lists for searches and visitors this year, the whitepaper also suggest travel companies should be paying particular attention to several mid- to long-haul destinations such as the UAE and Mexico, with both expected to perform well in 2017.

Other highlights include the impact of currency markets on prices for travel companies and how global events such as Brexit are impacting currency markets and what this means for travel companies when paying international suppliers.

Ian Johnson, Commercial Director, WEX Europe, said, “Our latest whitepaper reveals the appetite for international travel is still strong amongst British travellers despite threatening factors, including Brexit and security concerns.

“It also shows that having the right currency and payment strategy in place for paying international suppliers is essential to ensuring businesses minimise exposure to risk from exchange rate fluctuations while avoiding unnecessary costs that eat into margins.”

The whitepaper can be downloaded now for free from the Wex website.